Maid For You 3

Chapter 55

Madeline rose a skeptical eyebrow. "You do? You certainly are good at making connections."

I smiled sheepishly. "Actually, I was thinking that Luke could play."

"Luke?" she asked. "As in your boyfriend, Lucas?"

"Yeah, him!"

"Are you still dating that man?"

"Yes!"

"And you think you will still be with him by New Year's Eve?" her lip curled.

I sighed. "I know you think he's a lowly peasant or whatever, but Lucas is an incredible musician. I mean it. I can get a recording of him if you want to prove to you that he's good. He's super good at singing and playing guitar—I know he also can play piano and sing as well! I mean it, Luke was born to be a musician. He's so good, Madeline."

She looked up thoughtfully. "I remember that Lucille was very impressed with him when he played at one of Calista's parties," she admitted.

"He went to school for music, too," I said. "He's a great performer. Actually, I have some recordings of him on my phone if you want to hear him, now."

"Alright," she conceded. "Show me." I moved over to sit next to her on the couch, whipped out my phone, and started showing her various videos I had of him. The first was when he sang 'Brown Eyed Girl' at karaoke, the next when he once played guitar for me. Unfortunately, I didn't have clips of full songs, but after a few videos, Madeline said,

"He is quite good, I'll admit. I can see why you like him, with a voice like that."

"And he'd be good on a stage, too," I continued. "Or really, in whatever setting you'd like to plop him into. I swear, he becomes a different person when he performs—he's super confident and can do just about anything."

She didn't say anything for several seconds, until she conceded, "Alright."

"Alright?"

"He can play," she told me. "I'll have someone email him music in the next few days. Just give me his contact information."

"Really?" I beamed.

"Oh don't look so excited," she rolled her eyes.

Oh, but I was excited. I was antsy the rest of the day—I couldn't wait to tell Luke that night that I'd secured him a gig at the Rylin New Year's party! Their biggest event of the year! The Rylins were one of the top five noble families in the country, if my lessons had taught me anything, and playing at an event like this could really open doors for Luke! Perhaps he could stop being Coleman's butler and start the path of becoming a professional musician.

Due to his whole past with Coleman, including his unfortunate father dynamic and of course the Marstella Incident, I had come to the conclusion that Luke really shouldn't be working for him. It couldn't be helping his psyche or his confidence. I knew that Luke often compared himself to the Prince which was a dangerous game—especially since he wasn't even fully utilizing his talents here at the castle. I felt like Luke was trapped in a cocoon, and serving Prince Coleman was only causing that cocoon to tighten around Luke and suffocate him. Perhaps freeing himself from this situation could help him fly—to help him see what he had to offer instead of always comparing Coleman's strengths to his flaws.

That night, I knocked on Luke's door repeatedly until he answered.

"What is it?" he laughed. I pounced on him as soon as he entered the door and wrapped my legs around him in a hug, despite how unladylike it was to do so in my lilac dress that Madeline hated. "Cassie!" He laughed. With him still holding me up, I crashed my lips on his before I jumped back on to the floor.